Police professionals are firmly behind the use of police community support officers and agree their core role should continue to support neighbourhood policing, community engagement and high visibility patrolling, according to a review issued today (17th July) by the National Policing Improvement Agency. The report, announced by the Home Secretary in conjunction with the Policing Green Paper: 'From the neighbourhood to the national', also says PCSOs should work alongside regular police officers and partners in responding to local problems and engaging with communities, with limited involvement in enforcement issues. It is the result of athree month review which was commissioned by the Association of Police Authorities (APA), The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the Home Office to help establish greater standardisation across all forces on areas such as the role of PCSOs, their recruitment, training, supervision, equipment, uniform and career development. It aims to offer greater clarity to the public and police service on the way more than 16,000 PCSOs in England and Wales should be deployed and responds to a number of recommendations contained in Sir Ronnie Flanagan's report on Policing. The review established that forces continue to require some flexibility in how PCSOs are deployed in order to ensure that concerns and priorities specific to different communities and neighbourhoods are addressed. It also concluded greater use could be made of PCSOs to respond better to communities, especially victims and witnesses. Chief Constable Peter Neyroud, the Chief Executive of the NPIA, said "PCSOs continue to be an integral part of the wider policing family, providing high-visibility patrolling and offering reassurance to local communities. They are at the heart of neighbourhood policing, which is transforming the way that policing is delivered locally: "I am delighted that the NPIA has been able to help service improvement and the review sets out a range of recommendations to reinforce the role of PCSOs and build on the important contribution they already make reassuring communities". The NPIA`s Neighbourhood Policing Programme has been tasked to assist forces and partners in the implementation and development of the recommendations and will continue to support ACPO, The Home Office and the APA by maintaining oversight and responsibility for the development of the recommendations. Download PCSO Review Letter Download PCSO Final Report
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